Earlier this month, the Coastal Companion staff joined Up the Creek Xpeditions on a kayak tour through the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Up The Creek drove us from St. Marys to the swamp entrance, where they gave an orientation to this first-time kayakers. Sure enough, their advice quickly had me gracefully moving my kayak about and feeling comfortable on the water. “But what about the alligators?” I asked. Nothing to worry about, I was assured. Those worries were quickly tested, however, as we had only paddled a short distance up the canal when an alligator swam right in front of us. Half expecting the gator to turn and torpedo my kayak, I nevertheless tentatively followed our guides instructions and paddled forward. Just as he predicted, the gator turned and swam away, ducking underwater as we approached. So maybe the guide was right, the alligator might not be the fiendish leviathan of countless B movie escapades. Slowly I pried my hands off the paddle and moved on.

Having survived my gator test, I relaxed and soon started discovering an astounding, watery world teeming with wildlife and an exotic, alien landscape. We saw birds everywhere; herons, egrets, ibis, anhingas and the fascinating Sandhill Cranes. The cranes, recently arrived from their winter migration, fill the air with piercing, pterodactyl like call.

We paddled through canals, man’s attempt to tame the swamp, as well as trails meandering through prairies filled with aquatic plants and bordered by islands of grasses, shrubs and trees. The swamp, we were told, is a large basin filled almost entirely by rainwater. The still, oxygen deprived water retards organic decay, creating peat that covers the bottom with layers several feet thick, accumulation of thousands of years. The peat dislodges, rises to the surface and forms floating islands. Grasses establish first on the ‘batteries’ of peat, then shrubs then eventually trees such as the Cypress. The growth continues until periodic fires rage the landscape and return areas to prairies. But the swamp bounces back. Even the famous fire in the swamp last summer has little evidence left just half a year later.

The day was an awesome experience. I will never forget the exhilaration of my first kayak trip, nor the exciting experiences I had in the swamp, and I look forward to returning back to this wonderful place